THE LIKLEY LADS BECOME THE UNLIKELY GENTLEMEN | THE LIBERTINES LIVE REVIEW | MANCHESTER ALBERT HALL

Image: Rachel Brown Photography

The lights dimmed as Dirty Old Town took over the speakers, a track often described as an old Irish Rebel song (although it was actually written about neighboring town Salford), was nonetheless a precursor for the loveable rebels that were about to enter the stage at Manchester’s Albert Hall, The Libertines.

The Libertines are the band that basically invented ‘indie sleaze’. Whether its Pete and Carl’s bromance, their fashion choices or their hedonistic attitude, when you think of the noughties, you think of The Libertines.

So naturally when I was offered the chance to watch these icons in the flesh earlier this month I jumped at the chance, heading down to watch them on the 3rd and final night of their sold out run of shows in Manchester.

The tour itself is a triumphant feat for a band who up until this year, hadn’t released an album since 2015. With public bust ups, and even more public paparazzi shots of partying decorating their past, at one point it felt very unlikely that we may never see the Libertines back playing music together again.

However, after a small venue warm up tour to test the waters last year, and a genuinely fantastic album released at the start of 2024, it seems The Libertines are back and better than ever, selling out multiple dates at a whole host of venues up and down the country.

On that faithful Saturday I headed down to Manchester’s Albert Hall to watch the band in action. After only ever catching the band acoustically, or watching Pete on his solo tour, I was excited yet a little apprehensive to see how a full band show would play out. But In short, I was absolutely blown away.

From the very first note the crowd below became its own untamed animal, moving backwards and forward and up and down for the entirety of the set; a sea of cheering, dancing embracing fans living their own libertine dreams for one night only. For any old school Libertines fans, (myself included) the set list was an absolute dream. ‘Up the Bracket’s The Delaney opened the set with all of the youthful abandon of when it was first ever written. Next came another crowd favourite What Became of the Likely Lads. Pete’s delivery of the song’s well known chorus “What became of the likely lads? What became of the dreams they had?” felt all the more poignant, a reflective moment to think about the journey that the band themselves have been on since the song’s release 20 years earlier.

Sometimes with a band as established as the Libertines, the new song can make a set fall flat, but for the band’s new tracks that couldn’t be further from the truth. Run Run Run and Shiver, both singles from 2024’s ‘All Quiet on the Eastern Esplanade’ were met with the same reaction from the crowd as the band’s biggest hits, and the poetic and melodic Night of the Hunter showcases the band’s songwriting abilities perfectly.

Can’t Stand me Now, arguably one of the band’s biggest songs brought the main set to a close. After doing the age old classic, pretend to go off and come back on again routine, the band came back to perform 7 more of their own songs, much longer than the average encore.

My only criticism would be that the encore did slightly take the wind out of the gig’s sails, slightly squashing the atmosphere that the band had just spent the last two and a half hours curating. But by the end of What a Waster the atmosphere was back up with the whole room joufully shouting “you pissed it all up the wall” in unison.

Don’t Look Back Into the Sun, brought the set to a close performed with all the euphoric and rebellious energy of the noughties, before the band added in a cover of Waterfall by the Stone Roses in tribute to the city, a very special moment for all of the band’s Mancunian fans to experience.

On this tour it seems like The Libertines have found the perfect balance between celebrating their past, whilst still giving fans hope for their future. And what became of the likely lads you ask? Well it seems that they grew up to become the unlikely gentleman, and we love to see it.